Rail-joint.



W. P. & s G. THOMSON.

RAIL JOINT.

APPLIUATION FILED DBO. 27, 1907.

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' RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 27, 1907.

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Patented Aug. 16, 1910.

W. P. 65 S. G- THOMSON.

RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION. FILED DEG. 27, 1907.

9%?fifiif Patented Aug. 16,1910.

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WILLIAM P. THOMSON AND seminar. G. THOMSON, ASSIGNORS TO THOMSON-THOMSON compan A ranrnnnsmr.

RAIL-JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 'Application filed December 27, 1907. Serial at. 408,295.

on PHILADELPHIA, BENNSYLVANIA, or rnrmnnnrnrarnnnsnvnms,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, NVILLIAM P. THOM- son and SAMUEL G. THOMSON, of-Philade.lphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in RaileJoints, of

which the following is a full, clear, and

exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, n which Figures 1 and 2 are sectional views, showing two different forms of our invention. Fig. 3 is a side new of one form of our joint. Fig. 4 is a similar view showing a non-insulalei'l joint. embodyingour invention; 5, (S, 7 and 8 are sectional views showing other modifications; Fig. 9 is a side elevation of a joint having'a section similar to that shown in Fig. 2, and Figs. 10 and 11 are sectional views of still other modifications.

Our invention has relation to rail joints and is designed to provide a joint in which the bearing surface at the rail end is .increased beyond-the edge of the rail base or foot by the use of inside bars, in combination with outside bars, in the peculiar manner hereinafter described and claimed.

The precise nature of our invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which we have shown a number of modifications which will now be described, it being premised, however, that the invent-ion'is susceptible of various other modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings, the numeral 2-whereve'r seen designates the inner plates or bars, 3 the outer plates or bars, 4- the insulating material, and 5 and 6 joint bolts, the bolts 6 being below the rail bases, while the bolts 5 extend through the web portions of the rails.

In the form shown in Fig. 1, the inside" bar 2 is shown as having an extension under the head of the rail, which bears upwardly against the same, and is extended'outwardly beyond the plane of the outer face of the rail head, so as to provide an extended bear iug si'u'tace at its under s de for the insulation {1, which is clamped between such extension'and the top portion of the outer bar3. The bar 2 also has an extension underneath the base of the rail. The insulation 4 extends continuously between the inner and outer bars throughout their entire. extent. The modification shown in Fig. 2 is similar to that shown in Fig. 1, except thatthose portions both of the inner and outer bars which extend below the rail base, in-

stead of being brought horizontally underneath the base, are inclined inwardly and downwardly. as shown, to form. flexible bearing surfaces and to increase the stiffness ofthe bars; a

Fig. 3 shows in side elevation the set of inside bars, onecont-act-ing with each, rail,

and separated from each other adjacent to the joint "between the rails, while the "outer bar extends continuously across the joint withthe insulation between the inside and outside bars. The separation of the inner bars at the-ends of the rails necessary in all cases where. an insulating oint 15 deerred.

in ordinary track service,'th e inside bar may extend continuously as shown at 2 in Fig. l. By making the, inside bars of greater length than the'outside bars, so that they will extend over the ties proper, spiking facilities are provided.

Fig. 5 shows aform of the inside bar which does not extend outwardly beyond the head of the rail at its upper end and which affords a practically continuous insulating bearing surface between the head and foot of the rail; This form-of joint also includes a large foot extension at the edge oil the base'of therail and a depending flailge to afford stiffness and a flexible bearing'face, while at the same time it has a portion '8 whichextends horizontally inward underneath the base of the rail, so that it combinesthe functions of the lower portions shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The form of joint shown in Fig. 6, is similar to that shown in Fig. 5, except that has broad fiat bearing surfaces 10, 11 and When, however, the insulation is .not desired, but the jointis intended for use 12, for the insulation, at. approximately right anglesito each other.- Fig. 7 shows a form of-invention in which the inner bar has a. broad foot portion 13, which .extendshorizontally' inward under-j neaththe base of. the rail and which is of gradually increasing'thickness toward its.

free end. 'This'inside bar doesnot extend j upwardly 8.101}? p p 10. the preceding gures, buta block of wood or other insulat ng material 14 isfit ted underneath the head of the rail and is carried by the angle or upper portio'n15 of the outer bar. This outer bar clani'ps'the insulation" of the rail,- and the further factthatthe' lower portion of the inner bar has one member 16, which extends horizontally under neath the rail base and another downwardl and inwardly extending member 17, through which the bolts'6 extend.

having a section similar to that of Fig. 2, but showing a different length and' proportion ofthe'inner and outer bars,.from that shownfin Fig. 3. In this arran ement the outside bar is more nearly 'eq-ua in length to the length of the two inner bars taken together.- Y

The form 'shown in Fig. 10 is in general very much like that shown in Fig. 7 except 40. that the inside plates or bars are formed 1n two sections 2 and 2, one section fitting over the top of the rail baseand against its outer edge,lwhile the other section extends under the foot or base "of the rail. These for contact with the insulation. Either of the bars 2 or 2 may, however, be used without the other. If desired, the portions 2, wh'ieh lieunderneath the rail base, may be carried all the way underneath therail base,

so as to project at the opposite'side.

The form shown in Fig.11 is similar to Fig. 10 except that the two parts'of the inner .plate or bar are of different" forms The portion 2 which fits the-top of the rail base is of--flat plate form, while the portion 2 which. lies underneath the rail base, is sha ed to fit the ed eofthe rail-base, as well as 'itsunder side. This form of the member? ismore particularly adaptedg'for use where it is not intended to extend entirely underneaththe rail base but with a 'se arate base ateaeh s1'de, the rails. In a this form,-the fil1er'bloelrl.1 t isnot emthe web of the rail, as-in Fig. 9 shows a side elevation of a-joint ployed, but the outer bar is carried up under ing bolting flange or projection for the bolts 6, these flanges being shaped and the .metal thereof disposed to form vertical bolt- .ing faces.

The. advantages ,of, our invention result "from the use of the inner and outer bars in the manner described, whereby broad bearing surfaces extending beyond the edge of the rail base, are provided for the insulation 'and'its cutting or crushing is precluded. I Our in'ventionalso enables us to ,grip the foot of the rail on broad surfaces to such an extent that the support and bearing of the splice bar under the head is not essential,

permitting the use, 0f filler blocks in the manner described or such other: filling ma terial as 'may protectthe inside parts from. the weather. Our invention also permits the .use of very stifi outer bars whiohare at the same time not suflioiently rigid in form' to destroythe insulation. Its destruction is further preventedby the'flexible form of the bearingfaces ofthe' inside bar.

the foot portion I We proposeto reduce the: amount of insulation necessary by using metallic plates between the inner and outer bars atone rail end, which plates shall be interchangeable with similar insulating filler plates between the bars at the other rail end. Thus, the insulation shown in Figs. 1 and 2 may be supplanted at one rail end by these metallic liners or plates of siniilar'form.

One of the fundamental principles of the inside base extension of the-inner bar or plate is that it provides an additionalwi'de bearing face below .the base of the rails which acts directly with each rail, due-t0 the fact that the bar-has a bearing over and under a portion of the rail and must move with it. The i'mportance'of this action of the separate inside plates having these bearings on the separate rails will be clearly seen when it is realized that the upper bearing surface of the bar or plate at one end assists the under face of the bar at the other rail end, and vice versa, as the'shearing strains caused by the passing load.are'transm-itted from one rail to the other. ,We still further provide against destruction of the in sulation lay-extending these lower" faces downwardly 'at anangle in the morepref'erred forms of the. invention. This gives bars take a bearing under the heads of the veiyspringy bearing surfaces and places rails, it is obvious that the insulation between these wide base extension bearings has to be crushed before the insulation under the head would be destroyed, and as the wide base bearings are all very flexible, the result is the safest possible arrangement for a joint having insulation placed under the heads of the rails. The flexible inside extension plates also act to relieve the shocks received by the parts in service.

lVe claim:

1. In a rail joint, an inner and an outer bar each of wnich extends over and around and under the rail base, and interposed insulation bea-lng continuously outside the rail base on each of said inner and outer bars, the inner bar having a portion which is adjacent to and between the outer edge of the rail base and the adjacent portion of the outer bar, said portion forming in effect a transverse extension of the rail base to an extent greater than the'sectional thickness of said portioi. at the outer edge of said base to thereby cause the area of the insulation bearing surface on either of the two bars to be materially greater than the area of the 1 surfaces of tt e base flange of the rail which are opposite to said insulation bearing surfaces. 7

In a rail oint, a metallic inner bar having a pcrtion to extend under the rail,

foot and another portion to contact with the top surface of the foot of one rail only and a third portion to lie outside the rail foot, said third portion having an out wardly extending face on its underside of greater width than the least sectional thickness of said third portion.

In a rail joint, an inner and an outer bar, and interposed insulation bearing con- .tiuuously (utside the 'rail base on each of said bars, said bars extending .over and under the rail base and each bar having insul'ation bearing faces above and below the rail base which diverge inwardly at a wider angle than the angle at which the top and bottom faces of the adjacent base flange of the rail diver e. e 4. In a rai joint, a bar contacting with the foot of one rail only, said bar contacting with the rail above its bottom face and having a member extending beyond the outer edge of the rail foot to provide r a seat for insulating material on its under 0 side.

tending downwardly at an angle to the horizontal below the rail base.

7. In a rail joint, bearing bars or plates contacting with the rail and having outer bearing faces wider than the corresponding faces of the rail, insulating means and a splice bar or plate having a central recess with a lower insulating bearing face extending at an angle to the horizontal to inclose and clamp to the rail said intervening insulation and bearing bars.

8. A railjoint having an outer and an inner bar insulated from each other and ablock interposed between the outen bar and the head and the web of the rail, said inner bar extending outwardly beyond the outer edge of the rail base.

9. A rail joint having an outer clampingvening insulation beyond the outer edge of the rail base.

11. In a rail joint, an inner bar or plate to contact with the, foot of one rail, an outer bar, and insulating material between said bars said inner bar contacting with the rail above the bottom face of its foot.

12. In a rail joint, a metallic bar contacting with one rail only and extending over and under the rail base, said bar having the upper side of its member directly opposed to the upper side of the rail base and the under side of itsinember directly opposed to the under side of the rail base constituting broad contacting surfaces for insulating material which diverge inwardly at a wider angle than the angle at which the top and the bottom faces of the adjacent base flange of the rail diverge.

13. In a rail joint, a metallic bar contact ing only with thefoot of one rail and extendingover and under the rail base, said bar having .on its upper and under sides contacting surfaces for insulating material which diverge inwardly at a wider angle than the angle at which the top and bottom faces of the adjacent base flange of the rail diverge.

14. In a rail joint, an inner bar, an outer bar, and interposed insulating materiahsaid inner bar projecting beyond the outer edge of the rail foot to a greater distance than 1t)he least sectional thickness of said inner 15. In a rail joint,.an inner bar, an outer bar, and interposed insulating material, said inner bar projecting beyond the outer edge of the rail foot to a greater distance than the sectional thickness of said inner bar at the outer edge of the rail foot.

16. In a rail joint, an inner bar, an outer bar, and interposed insulation, said inner bar having an inner face contacting with the rail foot and an outer face contacting with said insulation and lying atan angle to said inner face.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands. v WILLIAM P. THOMSON.

SAMUEL G. THOMSON. \Vitnesses S. E. PATTERSON, MCLEOD THOMPSON. 

